but you can save connor, go to adopt a pet, get any kind of dog you want around the country. jane garrison, thank you for bringing us connor's story. the key is adopt, don't shop. when you go to breeders, that's what's behind the curtain. we rescued him. he is now clean and happy and we rescued him. he's now clean and happy and all he needs is a home. i'm carl azuz. this is cnn student news. the world series starts tonight. good luck to you tigeres and giants fans. we're going to have some history coming up. first, we're hitting the presidential trail. the election is less than two weeks away.

and so now what? what are they doing between right this second and election day? in a nutshell, it's an all-out sprint. president barack obama and presidential nominee mitt romney are crisscrossing the country. they're meeting with potential voters, going on tv shows, posing for pictures and campaigning in front of crowds. there will be a lot of that, especially in swing states where it's uncertain which candidate is likely to win. the campaigns are buying up ad space so you'll see more commercials on more channels and their running mates are doing all they can to get supporters to vote. at this point, it's anyone's guess who will win the election. a cnn political reporter say americans will wake up on election day not knowing who their next president will be. it makes the campaigning the presidents do between now and election day even more significant. our next story takes us to italy. some people in the scientific world are stunned about a court

case that just wrapped up there. six scientistes and a government official had been convicted on charges. this goes back to an earthquake. the court ruled that these scientists didn't do enough to warn people that there was an earthquake risk. the trial focused on a meeting that happened one week before the quake. city residents had raised concerns about recent seismic activity. at this meeting, the scientists determined that it was unlikely that a major quake would hit. unlikely, but not impossible. when that major quake did hit, more than 300 people were killed. earthquake officials around the world say it's impossible to predict earthquakes accurately. but another expert says the case wasn't about predictions, it was about communication and the failure to get information out. back in the u.s., the food and drug administration, the

fda, says it's looking into reports of a possible connection between energy drinks and five deaths. the parents of 14-year-olds are suing monster beverage, which makes monster energy drinks. parents say their daughter died from heart problems after drinking monster energy on two consecutive days. monster says the drink that's 480 milligrams of caffeine. that's equal to three cups of coffee and it's more than five times the caffeine teenagerses should have in a day. the fda says it hasn't found any direct links between the energy drink and the teen's death. monster says it's saddened by the teen's death, but is not taking any responsibility. today's shout out going to mr. tolan's history class in

miles school. what is this? a mammal, republic tile, fish or amphibian? you've got three seconds. go. what you're looking at is a mammal. specifically, it's a beluga whale, sometimes called a white whale. belugas are sometimes called canaries of the sea because they make this high pitched chirping sound. scientists are saying, though, that's not the only sound these whales can make. that sounded like a person's voice but muffled, right? that was a beluga.

what clued researchers in was when a diver thought someone was giving him under water directions, telling him to get out of the tank. it turns out he was hearing the whale. our next story today is about pirates. not the movies. those are kind of fun. we're talking about the pirates involved in some of the dangerous attacks we've reported on in recent years. according to new information, there are fewer of those attacks this year. the international maritime says piracy is at its lowest levels since 2008. there have been 233 actual and attempted pirate attacks around the world. during the same time frame last yeek, there were 352. the leader of the group says it's good news, but he added that the waters where these attacks happen are still dangerous and that there still needs to be a naval presence there. on this day in history in

18611, the first transcontinental telegram was sent from one side of the u.s. to the other. in 1940, part of the fair labor standards act went into effect. it set the standard workweek for american workers at 40 hours. and in 1992, the toronto blue jays won the world series. it was the first time that a canadian team won the baseball championship. something else happened on this day in history, and it makes october 24th an annual event. it's united nations day. because on this day in 1945, the international organization was born. theed idea for the u.n. came out of world war ii. representatives from 50 cups got together to create a charter for the group. it says the u.n.'s goals are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations and work together to solve global problems. on october 24th, 1945, a majority of the countries

ratified that charter and the united nations officially came into existence. this is alexandria horseman. she's using her laptop to attend schools with hill help from her friends. alexandria was told she would have to miss up to three months because of medical problems she's dealing with. one of her friends came up with this idea to carry alexandria using her laptop from class to class. she's not stipg school, she's skyping school. she's getting better than doctors predicted. alexandria could be back in class in person this week. here is a word to the wise for you. telekany sis. it's the ability to mistake things move with just using your mind. researchers are using

tele-kenesis to help those who struggling day, for example, someone would is paralyzed. >> if you have someone who can't communicate, you can completely change their quality of life by helping them communicate. the next was to drive a wheelchair with brain signals. i am the creator and the director of the georgia tech spring lab, which is a research group that is devoted to researching and understanding what kinds of control we can have from brain signals alone. we were one of the very first labs to control a wheelchair with brain signals and we've used a variety of different mechanisms so that we might have boxes flashing at different speeds and we can tell by brain signal processing that if you're watching this box flashing at ten times a second or this one at 15 times a second, all you

have to do is pay attention to the one you want. document to turn right? you pay attention to the one on the right and we can see which one you're looking at by the osing lagzs in the brain. you're looking at the one that's flashing ten times a second and we can turn a wheelchair. our most recent wheelchair, one of my master students, michael boys, who is a wheelchair user himself reserve engineered his own wheelchair to be driven by the visual inter face. and he actually drove it around the building quite a bit. so that was exciting. we give people control without having to move a joy stick, without having to press a button, but to be able to move around your own home without a system is very important. we're very focused on providing independence to people with disabilities. some football coaches might not seem like natural prankster bibs the head coach at u democracy mass had a good one. he was running a meeting when

they were interrupted by two police officers. they were being awarded full scholarships. that coach is number one in the college football pranking. football funs, can't pass it up. we're going to take a hike and pass it back to your teachers. i'm carl azuz. ching on! people can do it all! get a quote, buy and manage your policy! -[ music stops ] -it's great! well, what's with the... -[ music resumes ] -music? ♪ have fun tonight dude. getting a car insurance quote. i'll let it go to voicemail. [ clears throat ] ♪ everybody wang chung tonight ♪ putting it on vibrate. [ cell phone vibrates ] -[ loud vibrating ] -it'll pass. [ vibrating continues ] our giant store and your little phone. that's progressive mobile.

>

hello and thank you for watching. i'm a.j. hammer with two big showbiz countdowns tonight including the top stories today breaking about love and heartbreak. brand new revelations today about which of taylor swift's exes she may really be singing about on her album. and kanye west may be about to put a ring on it. are he and kim kardashian about to get engaged, really? which story will be number one? well, the big reveal is coming up. we'll begin with our first top story of the night. it is today's top three showbiz news breaker. kicking it off at number 3, i'd like to you take a look at this. the overweight college student who has become an overnight celebrity after posting this picture of herself on her tumbler page, as you see, wearing a bikini with the message, this is my body. if you don't like it, that's your problem, deal with it. her name is shelly boonshot, and on the "today" show, she explained why she did it. >> the way i saw it was that every single day, i'm bombarded, especially living in new york city, with images of naked women

or half naked women and they all look the same. they all have had same kind of body type. somehow that's okay, but god forbid we put someone like me who is a size 12 on the billboard. >> right on. now stella is steering this, applau applause. a huge round of applause from coast to coast. as of late today, more than 80,000 people had shared her photo from her tumbler page. it had been viewed more than 2.5 million times on her facebook. that is amazing. i am to bring in hugh sherrad. also host on b103 radio in atlanta, entertainment host holland reed. guys, when most women in college are trying to hide their imperfections, you have stella here who actually had this brave moment. she flaunted her flaws. egypt, how great is it that she nearly took it all off, posted this picture and basically told people, bring it on? >> we're always taught as women

that unless we look like this that we're imperfect. so for this woman to get out, and she looks average size of most women that i see on a day to day basis, so i say to the women, go for it. let the world know you're comfortable in your own skin. >> let me point out something. i said a moment ago she revealed her flaws. i meant to say her perceived flaws, and i think that's an important distinction in here. in that same interview this morning on the "today" show, stella told host savannah gu guthrie that she was just fed up and that's why she did it. >> there is no way to avoid the bullying i took as a child and a teen. it took years of self-searching to understand that. this isn't right. we don't have the authority to judge other people's beauty, and we don't have the authority to make assumptions about other people's health based on the way they look, and i finally came to a place where i was really happy with the way i look.

i had found on tumbler there is a huge body positive, body acceptance movement, and i wanted to give a message to the bullies that had tormented me and show them that it didn't work. >> when is everybody going to get that? so holland, obviously we're sitting here and cheering stella on for what she did, but i am guessing, i am sure, unfortunately, there is still going to be a lot of haters out there. i do hope her bravery makes a difference, but do you think it will? >> i don't think it will. i learned a new word this week, it's called ballsery. and she's got it. i give her kudos. but when it comes down to it, people are still going to point and say that's wrong, it's fat. i will never put a picture of myself up without photoshopping. she gets all my applause and all my praise. unfortunately, we live in a society where we look at thinner is better, thinner is healthier, even though that's not true, there is such thing as skinny fat.

but she did it, she did it for the reasons why she did it and that is why she deserve tess praise she's getting. >> i believe every little bit does help chip away at it all, let's just hope we go down the right path. stella certainly shocked everyone with what she did. robert pattonen tonight shocking us with what he just said. this is number 2 on countdown of "showbiz tonight" newsbreakers. he's kicking off the promotional tour of "breaking dawn 2." they asked him what really tugs at his heart and makes him cry. you would think he would say when he was cheated on by long-time love kirsten stewart. or even the fact that "jersey shore" went away. but no, it's this. >> do you know how much we love you? we love you so much. 0ñ@ñfñ

well, tonight it looks like disney has got a whopper of a controversy on its hands over its very first latina princess. her name is sophia. she will be seen on the disney channel and also disney jr. while some people are cheering sofia for a milestone, there is such a cultural likeness in the movie that you won't even be able to tell she's latino.

with me tonight in new york, fernando garcia editor of elle magazine. i want to take a look at what everybody is going to see. it's our first look. let's take a look. >> sofia the first, once upon a princess. once upon a time -- >> welcome to the family. i trust you will make your new sister feel welcome. >> an ordinary girl became a princess. >> all hail princess sofia. >> sofia. >> sofia. >> hi! >> okay. so she's cute. and i'm watching that for you here for the first time and i'm thinking, a cute, not overtly latino. what do you think? did they get it right? >> she doesn't look latina like everyone expected. maybe they wanted someone with dark skin, darker eyes, dark hair.

she's the opposite, actually. blue eyes, too light skin. a lot of people are disappointed because she doesn't look latina like they wanted. >> that's where the outrage is coming from, because disney basically didn't press that sofia is latina, but they did tell "showbiz tonight" this very statement, the range of characters in sophia the first and the actors who play them are a reflection of disney's commitment to diverse, multicultural and inclusive story telling. we saw others that broke the mold like pocahontas, mulan. do you think there is more they should have done with sofia? >> definitely. i think they should have promoted this a little bit more, and not to confuse the people, in the beginning they said the first latina princess, and then they came out saying she wasn't 100% latina, so i think they could have promoted this a little better for the latina

audience to watch the premier on december 18. >> do you think they're backpedalling, getting cold feet about it? >> that's what i think. i think a lot of people complained about it and before that, they said she was latina, and when people complained, they said she actually wasn't, that her mother was from spain. >> right. >> so it was totally different from the first hint they gave us saying she was latina. >> thanks so much for your take on that. a bit more backpedalling today. the national hispanic media coalition says she met with top disney executives who ted them that the producer of the movie actually misspoke when he said sophia was latina. we have another "showbiz" countdown coming up. the stories about celebrity love

and heartbreak. and no one does hollywood heartbreak like taylor swift. ♪ this time i'm telling you, i'm telling you ♪ >> tonight the revelations about who those break-up songs are really about. and kanye and chris kardashian might be engaged. what's the number one story on our love and heartbreak? plus, get ready for a hero's return. "showbiz tonight" with your first look at "ironman 3."

♪ we are never, ever, ever getting back ♪ ♪ we are never, ever, ever getting back together ♪ right now the showbiz countdown, love and heartbreak. taylor swift reveals her brand new break-up song today. is it about jake gyllenhall? and will kim and kanye get engaged? the big hit that kim's friend, ryan seacredit dropped today. which story will top our stories of love and heartbreak tonight? "showbiz tonight" continues right now. welcome back to "showbiz tonight," and thank you for watching. we are here to count down the top three newsmakers who brought us love and heartbreak today. who better to kick this one in

high gear than the queen of love and heartbreak, taylor swift. even "good morning, america" host george stefanopolous can attest to that. >> i know you're not going to name the man this is about, but i read somewhere you said it was designed to drive the ex crazy. when was that? >> i may have said that once on a bad day, but i think for me, music is my way of understanding what i'm feeling. >> coming in at number 3 on the countdown, taylor swift just debuted her brand new break-up song on "good morning america" this morning. ♪ we are never, ever, ever getting back together ♪ ♪ we are never, ever, ever getting back together ♪ >> with me now from atlanta, egypt giraud, she is host of

hgtv's property virgins. i love that show. and from hollywood, brian saffi. he is the hit of "growing shade." "red" just debuted, and with all of her albums, this comes with what taylor is thinking about in her songs. vulture.com did a deep analysis, a scientific analysis of each track. and they claim that taylor's smash hit "we are never, ever, ever getting back together" is a direct hit at ex jake gyllenhaal. egypt, does that make sense to you? >> i'm sure all her ex-boyfriends, their blood pressure goes through the roof every time she drops a new album. but you have to expect she's going to right about her experiences.

if you're going to date pandora's box, don't be surprised if something jumps out at you. i just wish i could write a song and make $2 million on my ex relationships. >> the thing is, she plays it close to the vest, she doesn't spill a whole lot, but it keeps us talking about it. a rule -- vulture.com, and they vulture.com. and they think it was her pent boyfriend written all over it. he says, i will tell you how taylor swift literally followed conor to his family's compound and then bought a home there. also this slope is treacherous could be about the beach path. cape cod is a little rocky. i think that might be a little literal forte lore swift. should connor kennedy consider this a warning? treat taylor with tenor care or else? >> connor, run, do not walk. her songs are so thinly veiled, they might as well be like

"friends" episodes titles, like the one about joe jonas, the one about conor kennedy. i just wish she was a little more interesting, like if katie holmes could be taylor swift, it could learn more about scientology or tom cruise, that will be a lot more fun. >> one day it will be fun if she decides to one day spill the beans on all this stuff. maybe it's part of her master plan. i don't know. if that's not warning enough, listen to what else taylor revealed in her interview with george on "good morning america" about her excess and her songs. let's watch that. >> my fans know i'm going to give them the real version about what happened in my music, and whatever they read on blogs may or may not be true, and they can kind of tell if it's true or not because they know me. >> egypt, i'm thinking while her fans know her, a lot of her exes may well be regretting they ever did, don't you think? >> look at it this way. at least she never has to write a tell-all book because it's right there with her album. she kills two birds with one stone. >> you got it wrong.

she never, ever, ever has to write a tell-all book. >> good one, a.j. >> i try. while taylor came up a bit short in her confessions this morning, not so for liberty ross and her bombshell confession about her husband's affair with "twilight" star kristin stewart. liberty is a model. she spoke out just as she was getting ready for alexander wang's show during a new york fashion week show, and you have to watch this brand new video that surfaced today. it's surprising. >> i believe we are all on journeys and we are all given lessons at certain times in our life. and sometimes when things seem really bad, you have to be able to see the good and learn from it and just move forward as graciously as possible. i do think that this year is kind of the end of some things and the beginnings of something

else. and i think that the beginnings are always really exciting and change is very important in life. >> i'm not so certain if it's the accent, but that almost seemed as esoteric as brad pitt's chanel number 5 ad, but it clearly is part confession, part commercial. do you think they might be using liberty to sell this ad using her heartbreak story? >> i think she is taking her heartbreak all the way to the bank. we could definitely learn a thing or two from this person who i had no idea who she was before this affair. i think she is doing everything right and she is getting a payday. >> what do you think about that, egypt? she's getting it out there, getting her peace and she's getting paid for it. why not? >> if she's speak herring piece and she's getting paid for it, why not?

if she can capitalize on that, why not? i see a heartbroken woman whose private life has been thrust out into the tabloids. we sometimes have our man cheat on us, but not in public. whatever she has to do to feel right about the situation, go for it. >> i'm right there with you. especially because i think back to when news of the affair broke and i was thinking about her and her place in all this. she obviously didn't ask for any of it and she was subject to dealing with it all. what a horrible time that must have been for her. >> and she has kids. >> well, it's time to reveal who is number one on our "showbiz" countdown. and it's ryan seacrest. he set the world on fire today by dropping a major wedding watch hint on his radio show about kanye west possible proposing to kim kardashian for her birthday while they were in rome. now, it would appear that kim-ye

not engaged as you can see by this particular photo of them that was taken in new york last night at the angel ball, but i don't know. ryan, do you think that kim is -- the fact that she's still technically married to ex kris humphries is probably holding things up with the engagement here? >> you know, i don't know. i just love that kim's divorce is taking longer than her marriage did. and if kim and can ya were engaged, people would know it. that's how the world works. >> i suspect there would be a blimp with a sign on it flying over new york city, they would be dropping pamphlets over the beaches in hollywood -- >> i hope this wedding is televised. >> could they do it any other way, because that's something we'll tell them not to do. may i remind you that we're approaching the one-year anniversary of the very day that she dropped her bombshell that after just 72 days of married bliss, she was filing for that blockbuster divorce. egypt, i'm going to let you

finish. i think can ya has to let kim finish what she started first with chris before he pops the question, right? >> well, yes and no. kim has been married twice. kim had a stupid big wedding. i don't know she could have one bigger than that. if she truly loves kanye, she would look -- >> no way. is she going to look crazy? of course, she is. move on to this. this is so cool. tonight we have rare spielberg. i'm talking unbelievable footage of steven spielberg coming up with a theme song for "e.t." 30 years ago. ♪ >> tonight in a "showbiz" flashback, we are going to reveal this footage just

revealed of a young spielberg coming up with the soundtrack to this iconic film. plus, we have your fefrt very first look at the footage of "ironman 3" coming up. rogaine? well, i'll admit it. i was skeptical at first. but after awhile even my girlfriend noticed a difference. [ male announcer ] rogaine is proven to help stop hair loss. and for 85% of guys, it regrew hair. save up to 42% now at rogaine.com. it regrew hair. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

>> you'll have to walk from here. e.t.! ♪ >> wow, every time i see it, one of the most iconic scenes of all

time with one of the most iconic sound tracks of all time. we have, we have a look back at how steven spielberg brought together the sights and sounds of e.t. tonight, it is an extraordinary look inside how steven spielberg put together the theme music for the screen classic "e.t." spielberg sat down at a theme reel exactly 30 years ago. we have to check out this rare footage of this rare moment. it was just posted on youtube and it's our showbiz flashback tonight. ♪ >> if it would be convenient to go into the call -- >> yeah. i like that. it seems like a very natural transition into the loneliness

and out of the tenderness. it hasn't gone up yet, has it? >> that's the end. i'll save it for the last reel. ♪ >> up or down? maybe it's once down. go down once and go up. >> i love that. so cool to see steven so hard at work, and it's hard to believe "e.t." is 30 years old. we move now from one famous flight to an infamous fall from grace. the woman behind disgraced new york eliot spitzer's prostitution scandal is now stepping into the spotlight herself. former madam kristin davis reveals what she went through as a result of spitzer's sex scandal, including her life in jail. we'll get to see it all on the brand new lifetime show "my life as a lifetime movie." it airs wednesday night.

i talked to kristen and i had to ask her, what was she thinking when she saw spitzer step to the podium four years ago to shamefully resign as governor in the wake of the scandal? watch. as somebody who played a historical part in that moment, i have to wonder what was going through your mind when he was making that speech. >> i was in jail, so i didn't see the speech until later on. but obviously, in 2007, one of his first acts of governor was increasing the penalty for a man with a prostitute go from getting a felony to a misdemeanor and him saying that he should have gotten more is appalling. he chose the complete inequities in our justice system where the woman goes to jail and the man goes back to his high rise. >> you felt there was a huge double standard there?

>> of course. of course. >> you paid your dues, kristen. you were sentenced to five years of probation. it was cut back to 2.5 years in 2010 and then you launched your own campaign to become governor. and i was wondering, i remember when you did that back then, doesn't she kind of want to lay low and keep a low profile? why didn't you? >> you have no choice. nobody wants to be famous or infamous for going to jail. you're being talked about every day for four months while you're in a hell hole called rykers island. you get out and my financial experience is basically useless because i'm now a felon. what am i going to do? i thought about it and i wanted to fight back against a system that i felt was corrupt and i've seen the inside of it, and that was the best way i could find to do so. >> any regrets? >> no, it made me a stronger person. when you go to jail, you find out who really loves you, so there is nothing more priceless than finding out who your true friends are. >> her perspective is fascinating.

check out kristin davis's interview on the lifetime movie which airs in november. coming up "the return of ironman." i can't wait. >> some people call me a tourist. i consider myself a teacher. lesson number one. heroes. there is no such thing. >> this is so cool. tonight your showbiz first look at robert downey, jr. in the new "ironman 3." none other than ben kingsley playing his arch nemesis. you don't want to miss this. [ male announcer ] one in four americans can't sleep.

are you one of them? drink dream water, the natural, fast acting sleep aid that helps you wake refreshed. visit drinkdreamwater.com.

you got to see this. a guy named hickock 35 unleashes his colt .911 to carve a spook-tastic pumpkin. >> it's beginning to take shape. [ gunshots ] >> i like that. looks pretty good, doesn't he? handsome.

looks a little bit like me. there's a face on the back! look at that. >> but you don't have bullet holes in your head, mister. some people might call this brilliant. i'm thinking a carving knife might be a better idea. i've been waiting for this. it's an incredible brand new trailer for "iron man 3" and don't think for a moment you're going to see the normally confident and cocky tony stark you've been used to from the other avengers. this shows a vulnerable stark haunted by nightmares and his brand new enemy, the mandarin, played masterfully by ben kingman. here's a look at "iron man 3." >> i've got lots of apologies to make. >> nothing has been the same since new york. i experience things and then they're over. i can't sleep. and when i do, i have nightmares.

honestly, there's a lot of people who want to kill me. i hope i can protect the one thing i can't live without. >> ladies, children. some people call me a terrorist. i consider myself a teacher. lesson number one, heros, there is no such thing.

♪ >> "iron man 3" in theaters may 2013. i can't wait. coming up, a "glee" pregnancy. not on the show, but in real life. are they expecting? caught on camera looking like she had a baby bump. wow... [ female announcer ] sometimes, all you need is the smooth, creamy taste of werther's original caramel to remind you that you're someone very special.

♪ now discover new caramel apple filled werther's original.

clair danes and damian lewis

have something to celebrate today. fans will be able to tune in for another season. fans of "the x factor" also getting good news. plus, "glee"'s leah michelle, pregnant or not? no baby glee. glee star lea michelle posting she's not pregnant. the glee star is responding on twitter saying, my first fake pregnancy rumor, i have finally made it. homeland's explosive pick up. homeland may have just started its second season last month, but showtime is announcing it will have a third season of the winning show. they've ordered up 12 new episodes of the spy drama to begin production next spring. "the x factor" hits the high notes. fox just announced they are picking up "the x factor" for a third season.